This brother-sister Team has all the intelligence, wits and skills to win the Race, although their personality differences could be the X factor. She describes him as confrontational and emotional, while he describes her as irrational. Both are worried that the big brother/little sister power struggle will rear its ugly head during the Race.

Azaria lives in New Orleans where he works as a facilities engineer for offshore platforms. He enjoys playing sports, poker and building things. Azaria claims that the biggest difference between the two is he doesn’t shy away from strenuous labor, while she is quite dainty. Hendekea moved to California several years ago and currently works as an aerospace engineer. She claims that he picked on her in high school, but now believes it was more of “a love/hate relationship.” She describes herself as intelligent and honest.

These siblings just might have what it takes to carry them across the finish line, but they’ll need to work together in order to reach that line.

The first episode of this season's "Amazing Race" wrapped up Sunday evening with New Orleanian Azaria Azene, (and his half-sister Hendekea Azene, a resident of Torrance, Calif.) finishing in first place. The episode had the would-be globetrotters jumping across the pond and trekking through southern Ireland. A very cooperative donkey proved to be the key to the team's victory.

"The Amazing Race" is a reality game show on CBS, now in its 12th season. 11 teams follow clues around the world, racing towards prearranged pit stops, hoping not to arrive last, and thereby being eliminated. The episodes air Sundays at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Azaria and Hendekea Azene feel they ran into a greedy ticket agent who tried to make a few extra bucks commission by selling them illegal business-class tickets instead of the required economy class ones.

As a result, Azaria, a 27-year-old facilities engineer from New Orleans, LA, and his sister Hendekea, a 23-year-old aerospace engineer from Torrance, CA, became the sixth team eliminated from The Amazing Race's twelfth season during last night's broadcast of the CBS reality series.

On Monday, Azaria and Hendekea talked to Reality TV World about their family bond with fellow racers Ronald and Christina Hsu; why they feel luck contributed to their dominance in the first few legs of the course; why they don't solely place the blame for their elimination on the ticket agent; and how they caused a ruckus on a flight.

Reality TV World: How were you cast for The Amazing Race 12? Was it your first time applying for the show? Hendekea: Well, I'm a HUGE fan of The Amazing Race. Obviously, I've loved it for a long time. I met somebody who was involved with the show, and she really encouraged me to go and audition. I felt like my brother was the perfect teammate for me. He's super-competitive, athletic, and I felt like he would have some of the strengths that I don't have. So we teamed up, went through the whole audition process, and here we are!

Reality TV World: You just mentioned you're a fan of the show, so I take it you had watched The Amazing Race before?

Hendekea: I have. My mom and I would always watch together on Sunday night, so I've been a big fan. Azaria... Not as much.

Reality TV World: How did you prepare yourselves both physically and mentally for the competition?

Hendekea: Azaria was emotionally abusive to me to prepare me (laughing)...Azaria: Yeah, so she could get used to it!Hendekea: ... No, I'm kidding. I tried to work-out a bit. I'll be honest, I'm not the outdoor-type. It doesn't come that easy to me. But I think Azaria and I just tried to make sure we were mentally prepared for everything. We had all that we needed in our backpacks...Azaria: We went back and looked at some of the old episodes we got off DVDs and stuff. Just training, lots of running, lifting weights, we tried to get in the water every now and then and go swimming. Really a mind/body kind of thing...

Reality TV World: Had either of you previously done a lot of international traveling? Do you know any foreign languages?

Azaria: I've traveled around to Asia and to Europe with my job. The only language I know is English...Hendekea: We traveled to Ethiopia -- the motherland -- together. But as far as that, I've just done local traveling. Nothing extravagant.

Reality TV World: During the premiere broadcast, Christina said you two had a "family bond" -- similar to her relationship with her dad Ronald -- and thus shared information with each other. Would you say you had an alliance with them?

Hendekea: I think that it was a loose alliance. I felt like we always had each other's best interests in mind. I think Ron and Chris are great and I wanted them to go far in the race, and I feel that they felt the same way about us. So we'd always share information, but at the same time, in this race you trust people -- but still -- they're your competitors. So there's always that little amount of, "I want to help these people, but they're still in the end going to try to beat me."

Reality TV World: Did you form alliances with any of the other teams?

Azaria: I'd say we were aligned with ["Dating Couple" Jennifer Parker and Nathan Hagstrom] to a much loser extent than Ron and Christina.Hendekea: I think that was mostly because we were always neck-and-neck. Nate and Jen were always... We always saw them for the first five legs, they were always there with us. So it kind of just worked out that it makes sense to stay at the top of the pack together.

Reality TV World: You two were the first team to reach the Pit Stop in three of the first four legs. Why do you think you did so well early on the course? Were you confident you'd be able to keep it up throughout the whole race?

Azaria: I think that Hendekea and I were pretty steady during the first few legs. Even the leg in Lithuania when placed fourth, we were steady. It took that, and you factor in a little bit of luck, and first place just managed to show-up on our doorstep...Hendekea: A lot of it is luck too. In Ireland, we had the most amazing donkey (laughing). Of course there's some skill involved and some athleticism, but we had a great donkey. There were a lot of other little things that happened in Burkina Faso, like we ran into this kid that knew where the village was. So things just fell into place.

Reality TV World: What was your honest reaction when Jennifer began whining about you guys not "sharing" the first place prizes and allowing them to reach the check-in mat before you in Ouagadougou?

Hendekea: Like see, my perspective's really different because I know Jen and Nate. As individuals, they're very competitive and that's obvious during the race. So I kind of just took it as her being frustrated and kind of disappointed, and not really upset at what happened. Hindsight is 20/20, and afterwards, she apologized for what she had said and she understands that it was like rubbish...

Reality TV World: You two seemed to thoroughly enjoy your time in Africa. Was that the case, and if so, why?

Azaria: I think being in Africa, it was easy. From a cultural standpoint, we probably didn't have a leg-up on the other teams, but we did know what was coming from being in Africa [before when they traveled to Ethiopia]. And then it's always nice to interact with the folks in Africa, particularly because they're very genuine...Hendekea: Yeah.Azaria: ... They're willing to go out of their way to help you. Not just because you're a westerner or because you have camera crews running behind you, but because they really and truly just have the sort of attitude that people and family are first, which you don't really get when you're living in the U.S. so much...Hendekea: I loved it! I loved Ethiopia, I loved being in Burkina Faso. Less because of the landscape and wonderful scenery there, but because of the people, like Azaria said. That's why we enjoyed it so much.

Reality TV World: Azaria you seemed to have some problems milking your camel during that Roadblock challenge. What was the major problem you encountered there?

Azaria: (laughing) I think I need to go to remedial camel-milking school. Maybe I needed to sweet-talk the camel?Hendekea: Nurture it more (laughing)...Azaria: Hendekea's giving me information on how to milk a camel...Hendekea: I just felt like I needed to give you some advice (Azaria laughing)...

Reality TV World: Why did you decide against using the fourth-leg's U-Turn?

Azaria: We were thinking forward. We knew that... I'll tell you our biggest concern was that somebody would use it against us. A team that will get to a U-Turn will either use it on a team that's at the back of the pack -- like ["Friends" Shana Wall and Jennifer McCall] did -- or a team that they look at as a real, strong threat. So when we got to the U-Turn -- and we were in first-place there -- we knew that, "Hey, you know what? We're doing alright." We had no chance of being eliminated, at least this [leg], or very little chance I should say. And it leaves the option open to use the U-Turn later because there may be a second one coming.

Reality TV World: Were you surprised when you learned Shana and Jennifer used the U-Turn on "Dating Couple" Jason Widener and Lorena Segura?

Hendekea: No!Azaria: I was not. I would have done the same thing if I was in their position.Hendekea: I don't know why it's like... It kind of surprises me that people are like, "Ooh... karma! They used the U-Turn." It's like a tool in the game. That's why it's there. Like Azaria said, I would have totally done the same thing. They were just saving their behinds. Granted Jason and Lorena were an hour-and-a-half behind them, you never know what's going to happen. What if something happened to their car and they got pushed back even further? So I understand.

Reality TV World: What was the problem you had when you were trying to contact Polish Air from the Vilnius airport? Was nobody answering the phone?

Azaria: I don't know if it was that or we couldn't get the country code. We couldn't get the right one there...Hendekea: Yeah, the problem was we had the phone number for Polish Airlines, but to call into Poland you need an international country code. No matter what we did, it just wasn't going through. So we had to make a decision and do something else...

Reality TV World: Hendekea you criticized Azaria for making all the decisions during the race. Do you really think that hurt you two or were you just frustrated at the time you made that comment?

Hendekea: I think that I was frustrated, but I didn't mean he was making all of the decisions for the whole race. I meant at that moment, I felt like he was making a lot of the decisions. Because everything was pretty 50/50 up until that point, and so I was just frustrated that I was kind of going along with what he was saying. It's partly my fault too. I should have stood-up and been like, "Hey, slow down. We need to think about this." That never happened.

Reality TV World: Once you were able to purchase tickets on that flight via the ticket agency, you bought business class tickets. What happened there? Did the ticket agent just not tell you that she was giving you business class tickets? It seems there were economy class tickets left, since Nathan and Jennifer purchased them after you.

Azaria: I imagine that [the ticket agent] wanted a larger commission.

Reality TV World: Okay, so the agent received a larger commission by booking you business class instead of economy?

Azaria: It's a travel agency right? It wasn't like American Airlines or Polish Air ticketing office, it was a travel agency...Hendekea: Yeah...Azaria: So with that in mind, I'm sure that she gets paid a commission based on what she brings in.Hendekea: Obviously, we never said [we wanted] business class or first class.

Reality TV World: You don't remember her telling you they were business class when she gave them to you?

Hendekea: She didn't. Never.Azaria: There was such a rush. I mean we sat down at her desk at maybe 6:05AM, and the flight was leaving in 20 minutes. So we just basically told her, "Get us these tickets to Croatia, and we need them fast." She probably assumed, "These guys are from outside Lithuania, maybe I can pull a fast one on them?" Which she managed to do...

Reality TV World: What time did your flight arrive in Croatia? At that point, were you confident you'd be able to make it to the Pit Stop without being eliminated?

Hendekea: No, we were like four or five hours behind everyone. So it was kind of a surprise that we saw ["Grandfather/Grandson" team Donald Jerousek and Nicolas Fulks] there. I don't know. I just had this feeling I knew we were going to be last.

Reality TV World: Where were everyone's backpacks when they were getting off those planes? It looked like everyone left their backpacks back at baggage pickup or something for this leg.

Azaria: They confiscated our backpacks -- production did -- when we got off of the airplane... I assume that they knew that we'd be doing zip lines and potentially jumping into water. So that's why they took them...

Reality TV World: You just touched upon this, but you were surprised to see Nick and Don when you arrived at the Detour challenge?

Hendekea: Yeah. I'm still not sure what time their flight got in. But they were obviously much slower at the tasks then we were, because we actually got into the Pit Stop 10 minutes after them. It wasn't that far...

Reality TV World: Azaria it looked like you did that wall-building Roadblock challenge pretty quickly? Was that the case?

Azaria: I did not actually. It took me about 20 minutes to do, whereas some of the other teams might have gotten it done faster because... So there were eight slots [in the wall] to fit the blocks in to start out with. So the team that got their first had the advantage of using a single block out of eight. By the time I got there, there were two...Hendekea: There were three...Azaria: Okay, so there were three out of like 140-something blocks...

Reality TV World: I see, so your odds of finding a matching block were less than the team that did the challenge first.

Azaria: Yeah... I was running. I was running...

Reality TV World: Following your elimination, Hendekea you commented how you felt like you two beat yourselves. What did you mean by that?

Hendekea: Well, I felt like it was a simple oversight that basically cost us the race. Even though the ticket agent might have screwed us over by giving us business-class tickets, it basically comes down to the team to make sure that everything's kosher. Azaria and I didn't stop and check our tickets before we left the ticket agency -- and if we had, and gone over the ticket with the lady that was working there -- it may have helped us out. We may have been able to get on that flight. It wasn't like we didn't navigate properly or we were just too slow, it was a stupid business-class ticket that screwed us over.

Reality TV World: Why did you two call Sequesterville after your elimination?

Hendekea: We did not end up going to [Sequesterville], so we called in to give them the news.

Reality TV World: Is there a reason why you didn't go there?

Hendekea: Because of our location at that point in the race, we ended up traveling with the rest of the teams to go to the finals. Because we were closer to the final Pit Stop, we flew onward rather than going back to Portugal [which is where Sequesterville is located].

Reality TV World: Could you talk a little bit about the situation with the Lithuanian pilot you talked about during your Elimination Station video?

Hendekea: (laughing with Azaria)... Azaria?Azaria: Oh my gosh... So we got these business-class tickets. It's 6:25AM, one of the workers from Polish Airlines -- the ticketing office -- is like, "You need to make a decision. Are you getting on this flight or not?" I look at Hendekea, and Hendekea looks back at me, and we make the decision that we're going to get on this flight and see what happens with regard to the rules and using business-class tickets. Hendekea: Because at that point, the lady would not give us the proper tickets. She kept on pushing us to go to someone else, who really wasn't helping us either. So at that point, it was like, "Look. Get on the plane, or we're leaving." So, we were like...Azaria: We go through the gate. We go through security. There's actually a bus waiting to take us to the plane once we go through the check-in. We're the only people on the bus, the plane's waiting on the tarmac. We walk onto the plane, we see all of the other teams, all the other production people. We get in our seats, and we look at each other, and Hendekea and I both say, "You know what? If we do this, we're dead. We're dead." The penalty [for using business-class tickets] would probably put us 24-hours behind, and it's just not worth it. At that point, we opt to get off the plane...Hendekea: That's when the craziness ensued (laughing)! Craziness ensued... Like pilots are screaming at us. We have Ron -- who is like upset that this happened to us... and there are some other people on the flight who are screaming at us because we're delaying their flight. So Ron is upset, and he almost gets in a confrontation with somebody else. We're holding up the plane like half-an-hour, 45-minutes, and flight attendants are screaming at us. Pilots are cursing at us in Lithuanian. Some of the other teams are getting upset because we're probably delaying their flight -- potentially making them miss the next flight -- so they're getting upset at us, screaming at the pilot to go. We ended up getting off the plane, taking the shuttle back to the airport with the flight attendants escorting us (laughing), and we kind of thought, "Oh... Is she going to take us to the police?" We didn't know what was going to happen, but she ended up just letting us go.

Reality TV World: That's a pretty good story. What was your reaction when the other teams were so surprised you had been eliminated?

Azaria: Good and bad...Hendekea: Yeah, good and bad. Bad because I felt like we could have done better. But good because I felt like they had faith in us.

Reality TV World: What were some of the "lies" you accused "Dating Goths" Kynt Cothron and Vyxsin Fiala of telling on the race?

Hendekea: That was... I don't know if you got a good glimpse of it at the Lithuanian airport. But Kynt and Vyxsin, they... Initially, Azaria and I go into one of the ticketing agencies just to figure out if there are any more tickets on this flight. Kynt and Vyxsin pop this attitude, like, "Oh! We've been waiting here! If you want to get more information, you're just going to have to wait in line!" I understand that they were doing their thing and being competitive, but the problem that I have with Kynt and Vyxsin is that they walk around like they're so respectful with integrity, like upstanding people. Then they lie, and they're really pushy. I think in Lithuania they lied to Jen about the location of one of the places that we had to go. So they pretend to be really sweet and caring, but they lie and back-stab, so that's what I was getting at.

Reality TV World: When we talked to Shana and Jennifer last week, they commented they felt how you two showed a lack of respect while they were trying to book tickets at the airport in Burkina Faso. Did you ever have any problems with them during the race?

Hendekea: It was a shock to me. I honestly did not know it was that big of a deal.Azaria: No offense to Shana and Jennifer, but you don't really interact with a lot of the people that are in the back of the pack.

Reality TV World: Okay, I got your point. What was the toughest part about competing on The Amazing Race?

Hendekea: I think that the race can bring out the best and worst in people, and there were times when I was really frustrated with the way Azaria was treating me. But at the same time, I felt that for the sake of our race and the competition, one of us needs to swallow our pride, and just plow through it, get through it and deal with... Basically me dealing with Azaria's bitching at me constantly (laughing). That was pretty tough, but we did so well in the beginning it wasn't all bad. It wasn't bad...

Reality TV World: Which team would you like to see win the $1 million prize? Anybody you don't want to see win?

Azaria: I'll say that we are actively hoping and praying that Ron and Christina win. It felt like we had a pretty good alliance, friendship and bond generated with them... As for teams that we don't want to see win. Um... I would venture to say that I would prefer that Kynt and Vyxsin not win. Just because they're slightly irritating.

Reality TV World: If you had won, what were your plans for the $1 million prize?

Hendekea: I kind of feel like I'm really young to have half-a-million dollars. So I confided in myself that if I had won $500,000, I'd probably just invest it somewhere or keep it tucked away until I felt like I had something very important to use it for. I don't believe in frivolously wasting money...

Reality TV World: Okay, how about you Azaria?

Azaria: I would have spent the money to buy my parents a nice car (laughing). They drive some pieces right now. Not much more than that. I look at half-a-million dollars -- yeah, it's a lot of money -- but it's not really going to change my life that much one way or another.

Reality TV World: So what's next for you two?

Azaria: Christmas (laughing)... No. Individually, my life is really just the same as it was five months ago. I still work at the same place, doing the same things. Hendekea, what are you going to be doing?Hendekea: I'm currently doing the engineering thing also, but I'm planning on going back to school soon. That's what I'd like to be doing in the next couple of years.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

JC: Good. Were either of you fans of The Amazing Race before you got on it?

HA: Yes, I was a big fan. I loved The Amazing Race.

AA: I watched The Amazing Race and thought it was a good show, but I don't really watch that much TV to begin with. So fortunately Hendekea...

HA: Yeah, I basically roped him into doing The Amazing Race.

JC: Okay. Hendekea, did you watch The Amazing Race: All-Stars then?

HA: Yes, I did watch that season.

JC: Okay. Well it seemed like you and Azaria had a lot in common with Boston Rob and Amber during that season as they dominated early in the race, but then met their demise way too early, just like you and Azaria. Did you see any similarities with them?

HA: You know, I think that Rob and Amber are obviously fierce competitors and it's just a honor to even be compared to them. There were some similarities, but I think the dynamic between me and Azaria was very different than the dynamic between Rob and Amber.

JC: Yeah. Hendekea, why did you want to do this race with Azaria?

HA: Since I love the show and wanted to be a part of it, the first person that I thought of to team up with was my brother because he has played soccer all of his life. He has been really competitive and is obviously athletic, so I felt like his competitiveness would kinda light my fire and get me going and push me when maybe I didn't want to be pushed. In addition, because he is my brother, we could be more open with each other and not worry too much about "what does this mean about our relationship?" like a lot of boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife couples had to deal with.

JC: Right. Azaria, how did Hendekea finally convince you to do this race?

AA: Well if there was a reality TV show that I wouldn't mind being on, this would be it. I couldn't see myself doing Survivor or any of the other shows out there, mainly because this show is more focused on a team's performance and their performance is going to dictate what the eventually outcome is going to be. Basically, a team starts and they go until they win or they lose. So it was pretty easy for me to be convinced and the opportunity to travel and all of that stuff.

JC: Yeah. So after the first few episodes it seemed like you were early favorites to win this race. Did you consider yourself favorites to win the race?

AA: I don't think we ever looked at ourselves as favorites. I think that we realized early on that at any moment we could lose. I mean if you look at the first episode with the donkeys. Nathan and Jennifer almost lost, and Ari and Staella eventually lost because they had a bad donkey. So it's being aggressive, but also knowing that you are always going to balance the fine line of moving on to the next stage and going home.

JC: Yeah, exactly. You are both obviously very smart. Did you think that your education would help you at all on the race?

HA: I don't think that knowing how to solve a derivative is going to help you on The Amazing Race. Of course, there is book smarts and street smarts and it's good to have a combination of both on the race. But I don't know how much engineering really helped us on the race. I think it was more teamwork and being really methodical about doing research and asking people questions and getting directions from locals. I think that was more important.

AA: Yeah, the type of engineering I do involves facilities. So yeah, there wasn't anything particular that I could say helped, but at the same time I had felt that I had common sensibilities that helped me on the race.

JC: Yeah. So far one of the most memorable moments on the race was when Nathan and Jennifer were upset with you finishing first and not letting them win that leg of the race. Did that seem as ridiculous to you as it seemed on TV since the object of the race is to win?

AA: (Laughs).

HA: (Laughs). Kinda. But we're actually in the race, so I understand where her frustrations are coming from. Obviously, we were like "what are you talking about?" What if they would have said that "you have just won $100,000 for winning that leg of the race"? I would have been upset if I just gave them the win and they won that money. So obviously we were there to push ourselves and see how far we could go, and we weren't going to let someone else win a leg when we could. But at the same time I knew that they had come so close so many times and it was just her own frustrations that kinda came out.

JC: Right. So was the only reason you finished last on this leg was because of the mix-up with getting business class tickets?

AA: I mean that was a four hour loss right there.

HA: Yeah, it was huge!

AA: There were a couple of other things that happened that might have contributed to 15 or 20 minutes here or there. Going back to all the other legs of the race, there are always 10 or 15 minute things that we could have done differently that could have advanced us further. But yeah, the flight destroyed us.

JC: Yeah. Hendekea, how upset did Azaria get at you in the airport?

HA: (Laughs). Well they didn't show the first half of that. I was upset. Basically Azaria came up to me in line, we were behind TK and Rachel, and said "I have this information" and I was like "oh, okay". Then it ends up getting out. So at that point I was upset at Azaria for dragging me all around the airport, so I was kinda like fussing at him and nailing him for his mistake. So what you saw on TV was him defending himself. So he was getting all defensive, because I was pissed at him for the decision he made. That was him being defensive. I was okay with it. I was like "whatever, this is Azaria. I'm used to it."

JC: Yeah. You said there were some other little things that you could have done better to maybe save yourself a few minutes besides the ticket mix-up. What were those things?

HA: Well one thing was when we got to Croatia our taxi driver drove us to the wrong pier. He ended taking us somewhere. He didn't even know where we were supposed to go when he said that he did know. So that cost us some time. Then things at the airport like us getting out of line, us trying to call Polish Airlines and it not working out. Little things like that.

JC: Right. The last 10 minutes of the show is supposed to be dramatic and they usually edit the show to make it look like the final two teams are closer than they appear. So how far behind were you actually to Nicolas and Donald?

AA: I think we were like 10 minutes behind them.

JC: So it was that close then?

HA: Yeah, it was close.

AA: Yeah. I'm a little surprised that they had difficulties. It just really burns to know that we were so close. We were there and one thing killed us. Like I looked at Don carrying the stones from the wall, and he's an older guy and I don't know if they knew what they were going to have to do, but he was going really slow. I was running the entire time. The rocks weren't light, though. They were pretty heavy. To know that they had trouble finding a taxi. It was in an obvious location. We knew exactly where to go. I don't know, it's just a tough pill to swallow.

JC: Yeah, it seemed like it would be tough to take. Were either of you surprised that there hasn't been a non-elimination leg of the race yet?

AA: Yeah. Part of our decision behind not getting on a non-business class flight was because we didn't want to take the risk of getting like a 24 hour penalty and get further behind. Particularly, if there was going to be a non-elimination leg.

HA: Yeah.

AA: So we took the later flight and thought maybe we would catch up, and if we didn't catch up and finished in last place...

HA: Maybe it's not the end.

AA: Yeah, maybe it's not an elimination. We were being practical about it.

JC: Yeah, that's a good way to look at things. Did either of you learn something about your partner on the race that you didn't know before the race?

HA: I would have to say that I learned more about myself. Going into this race, I knew I wasn't the fastest or the strongest and I expected this to be a physical challenge that maybe I could keep up with. I found that maybe I'm not as strong as the other competitors, but there are other things that I do have that compensate for that. So I feel a lot stronger about my own abilities now.

JC: Right. What about you Azaria? Did you learn anything about Hendekea from this race or maybe about yourself?

AA: I didn't really learn much about myself.

HA: (Laughs).

AA: I knew me pretty well. I will give Hendekea credit. She came out and had a lot more fire and vigor than I thought she would have. I definitely had my doubts to start out with. Even before we left it was a tough month or so when we were both communicating back and forth, here in Los Angeles and me in New Orleans. But she came out and she did well for herself and I'm proud of her.

JC: Alright, very cool. That is all I have for you, so thanks for your time and good luck with everything.

HA: Okay, thank you.

Logged

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

MSN: It seemed like you guys had everything you needed to go all the way. You'd come in first on three legs. So what happened? Why did you guys get the business class rather than economy?

Azaria: We got the business-class ticket rather than economy because we didn't really dictate to the travel agent very loudly that we wanted economy. And that was compounded by the fact we never really checked the ticket to make sure it was economy.

MSN: So why does "The Amazing Race" have that rule, that all flights have to be economy class?

Hendekea: My guess is because number one, it's cheaper, and probably more importantly, the pressure is more on if you have to get economy, because usually first-class tickets are more available on international flights. And so there wouldn't be as much competition to get a flight period if first-class was open.

Azaria: Also, I was thinking that on an economy flight, say, from L.A. to Ireland, it's a lot more difficult than a first-class ticket.

MSN: So was there any possibility of your, say, trading your business-class flight with someone economy-class, or was that disallowed by the rules?

Hendekea: No. The explicit rule is that you must purchase economy tickets. So we could have downgraded or gotten different seats but that would have been against the rules because we had to purchase economy tickets. And that had to be done at the ticket-agent phase, at that time.

MSN: So how would you categorize your experience on the Race overall?

Azaria: Ups and downs, but for the most part, except for Croatia, the ending there, it was really phenomenal. It was just an unbelievable opportunity, a chance not just to travel the world and to see different cultures and places, but to share that experience with my sister and actually my family and friends back home.

Hendekea: Yeah, it was obviously more than just winning a million dollars. Traveling around the world, and meeting interesting people and building relationships, not just with my brother, but I met so many great people from other teams on the Race.

MSN: How did your time on the Race compare to what you expected going in?

Azaria: I thought it was a little less physically grueling. I thought it was going to be a lot of physical activity with some mental tied into it. But with the exception of the first leg, it really wasn't like that.

Hendekea: I also totally expected to be arguing with Azaria more than I did. I think Azaria and I worked really well together. I think we discovered early on I was strong in certain areas he wasn't and he was strong in certain areas that I wasn't, so if we could keep cool, we were a team that could really work well. So that surprised me.

MSN: What would you say were your strengths and weaknesses as individuals and as a team?

Hendekea: I think obviously Azaria's a lot faster and stronger than I am. But I pay more attention to detail. I have better eyes than he does. I work better when it comes to asking somebody to use a laptop or a cell phone. I'm probably more of a people person. So that was my strength.

MSN: What would you say was your favorite leg of the race?

Azaria: I enjoyed the first leg in Burkina Faso. It started out pretty tough, we slept on the concrete that night. ... Being in Burkina and being able to run with... Misha and do all the activities we did was really fun.

Hendekea: I'd have to say the same. It depends on what's more important to you. Croatia is a beautiful place, a wonderful landscape, and the task in Ireland was fun and crazy, but for me it came down to interacting with people and growing relationships. I think that took place in Burkina Faso, so I'd have to agree with Azaria.

MSN: How did being on the Race affect your relationship with each other?

Hendekea: I think for most of our lives, Azaria and I have had the typical brother-sister relationship. Unfortunately we weren't that close all our lives. I felt he was like the protective brother, so I wasn't as open to him as I maybe would have liked. I think being in such close proximity and having to work together has forced us to be more open. As a result, after the Race, I think that we communicate better, we talk to each other more often, and we're really trying to work on building an open, positive relationship with each other.

Azaria: I think every Hendekea said was pretty accurate. ... I love her and I'll always have her back.

Hendekea: All that's implied, right? I think to make a relationship stronger, you have to be a lot more open. ...

MSN: Other than obviously the mistake that led to you being eliminated, what else might you change if you had the opportunity to do the Race over again?

Azaria: I would have been easier on Hendekea, been more supporting, instead of being a coach, be more a friend or a teammate.

Hendekea: And I tried to be a peacemaker in the sense that it would have been easy for me to fire back at him and argue all the time but I didn't think it was conducive to a better team. But looking back, maybe that was what we needed. Maybe if I had fired back, rather than him nailing it on me, I could have been there to calm him down and reevaluate some of our decisions. MSN: So that last episode, how far back where you from the grandfather and the grandson when it was all said and done?

MSN: Looking back on that last leg, once you were in Croatia, was there anything you could have done differently to pare down that 10 or 15 minutes?

Hendekea: A lot of things. They didn't show that our taxi driver took us to the wrong pier. That could have been 10 minutes right there.

Azaria: It took us like a half-hour to get the Roadblock completed just because there were so many blocks and not very many slots that would fit. And then there was the Great Anchor Incident. ... Our rowboat was tied to the pier, but there was also an anchor that was holding it down, and we didn't realize there was an anchor. MSN: That must have sucked.

Azaria: Yep.

MSN: So what advice do you have for people who might want to go on "The Amazing Race" in the future?

Hendekea: I'm not a big fan of "Let's go on 'The Amazing Race' and re-evaluate our relationship." I don't think that contestants should try to go on "The Amazing Race" to see how strong their relationship is. I don't think that's not very healthy. You need to be calm, obviously. It seems the people who are the most calm and look at the big picture do the best. So if you can steer away from drama for the most part and remain calm, I think you'll do well.

Azaria: I think the most important thing to do and it benefited us greatly throughout is using all the resources that are available, and particularly focusing on the people. If you were to come to New Orleans and wanted to go to the Superdome, you'd rely on the people around you to help you. Hendekea and I did a really good job of trying to get input from others.

MSN: How did you guys stop from laughing when Jen was complaining in that one leg that you guys had already had your turn at being first and you didn't let them come in first?

Azaria: I smiled, but didn't laugh. She was venting.

Hendekea: She was venting. At that point, they had come really close to first like two or three times I think. They were just frustrated and they let their emotions get the best of them. I didn't really take it too seriously.

MSN: How would you assess the remaining teams?

Hendekea: It's really weird. I think that a lot of people wouldn't expect the two older teams, Gramps and grandson and Ron and Chris, to be there. But I don't think being older is that much of a disadvantage. And in my opinion, it's an advantage because they think a lot more. They're slower because of it, but it also causes them to look at the big picture and not rush into judgment. I think a lot of people are surprised about them being around.

Azaria: I think the remaining teams are all strong in their own way. TK and Rachel are very laid-back. They also have physical prowess. Ron and Christina are extremely intelligent and I think their relationship throughout the Race has gotten stronger and stronger as they've gotten to know each other. Nate and Jen, they bicker, they fight, but if you look at their performance throughout the past six legs, they've always been at the top. They've never really dropped down to the back. So it's a pretty good complement of people who still remain in the Race.

MSN: Guys, anything else you'd like to add about your time on the Race?

Azaria: It was awesome. It was a great experience that's going to stick with us for the rest of our lives, and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of it.

Hendekea: We're just really thankful to have been given this opportunity. It's definitely something I know a lot of people would love to do and we were just fortunate to have been a part of it.

- posted by Raoul

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

A. Hendekea, The Amazing Race 12: Africa was also my favorite stop on the race. However, I loved all the stops we visited. I looked most forward to being around the different cultures and the locals. In Burkina Faso we met a local who we ended up having lunch with, I just loved bonding with all the locals in the different countries.

Q. Mark Realitywanted.com: Last week I spoke with Lynne Spillman, as you know she runs casting for The Amazing Race. She mentioned that The Amazing Race is more of a relationship show vs. a travel show. So how did this experience help or hurt your relationship with one another?

A. Azaria, The Amazing Race 12: We had our ups and down like anyone on the race that was under that much pressure. We had some issues at the start but grew stronger as the race went on, after we were eliminated it was hard to be around one another for a little while, but we are now a lot closer.

A. Hendekea, The Amazing Race 12: There was a bit of time right before the race where I was wondering if it was such a good idea to be on the race with my brother. As hard as he was on me on the show he can be harder to deal with in normal life. It ended up working out and we meshed well and found we had different strengths one another did not have. After we got kicked off the show, it was such a shocker and we both went through that “what the hell just happened” thought process. We were both a little depressed for a few days but later we looked at the positive side of things after we reflected on the “coulda woulda shoulda” process.

Q. Mark RealityWanted.com: So in your case things between you two look solid. It doesn’t look so good for Nate and Jen. Did you guys know Nate and Jen were having such a hard time with one another?

A. Azaria, The Amazing Race 12: I think that Nate and Jen have a very up and down relationship to start with so you’re seeing this yo yo type relationship on the show.

A. Hendeke, The Amazing Race 12: As a friend and I consider them friends, I feel bad because they both wear their hearts on their sleeves. There were times I had to calm myself down and filter myself so I didn’t explode on Azaria or someone else during the course of the race. I don’t think Jen and Nate filter their thoughts. I think they love one another very much but I also I think the editing is trying to make it look like Jen is causing most of the problems but it was more 50/50.

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: It’s interesting to watch the teams and how they do with one another during the course of the race, I am sure editing is a big factor since viewers don’t see all the footage. On episode two you mentioned that Kynt and Vyxsin were serious competitors, looking at them did you think they would be such a competitive team?

A. Azaria, The Amazing Race 12: I didn’t expect them to be so competitive based upon their appearance and how they value things like getting their makeup ready for race while the rest of us were packing our bags and doing race related things. They came out and did a good job but in my mind they have ulterior motives for being on the show, they are not just there to race.

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: Ulterior motives, I must have missed that. What do you think their ulterior motives are for being on the show?

A. Hendekea, The Amazing Race 12: I think they want to be little TV stars. It’s so funny how a person is during the race and how they are when a camera is around. On TV Kynt comes off as a fun loving guy but in reality he was depressed and a little rude, at least to me. He was very quiet but when the camera came around Kynt was a different person.Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: I have heard that on other shows as well, but they seem to be landing near the top each week and I assume everyone who goes on Reality TV wants a little piece of the star pie. So we have a ton of fans who watch the show on our site and many who have applied for next season or will apply for a future season. Since this show can bring people closer or push them apart what would you say to aspiring Amazing Race contestants?

A. Hendek, The Amazing Race 12: Don’t blame and finger point, both people on a team need to make decisions together not go back and finger point. Communication is by far the most important thing to be successful and enjoy yourself on the show.

Q. Mark, RealityWanted.com: Would you guys do the show again, say if there is an Amazing Race All Stars season two?

A. Azaria, The Amazing Race 12: If you asked either one of us we would say yes before you could finish asking the question.

Q. Mark RealityWanted.com: Well if CBS is reading this I guess they know who to call for All Stars. You two were doing so well and on the last episode you looked to be eliminated because of someone else’s airline booking screw up, was this the case?

A. Hendekea, The Amazing Race 12: It was both our faults and hers. Basically it is the racers responsibility to double check things like this. Azaria did ask for economy but things happened so fast it was overlooked.

A. Azaria, The Amazing Race 12: So we sat down at ticket office and got business class tickets by mistake. What you don’t see is the timing of how things unfolded on the show. When we sat down to get our tickets we only had 20 minutes until the plane left. We then got our tickets with only 10 minutes to spare. It was a very high stress environment, once we were told we had the wrong type of tickets we were left with only 5 minutes to spare and correct it.

Mark RealityWanted.com: Well we want to thank you two for spending some time with us, I am sure we will see you at the finale. Do either of you have a Myspace you want to share with fans?

A. Hendekea, The Amazing Race 12: You can look me up by my name I am the only result for Hendekea.

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Brother and sister engineers Azaria and Hendekea Azene seemed like a final three team for sure. They won three of the first five legs and often operated like a well-oiled genetically-linked machine. But they showed up at an airport gate with a forbidden business class ticket and it was back to start. Just goes to show you can never get too comfortable on The Amazing Race 12 (Sundays, 8 pm/ET, CBS).

TVGuide.com: Once more for the record: Please explain how you ended up with the wrong type of ticket to Dubrovnik.Hendekea: Luck. The ticketing agent ended up giving us business class even though Azaria said economy.

TVGuide.com: Did you do any "Hey-it-wasn't-our-fault" begging that they didn't show on camera? Azaria: No. I don't even know if we remembered that we'd said economy.Hendekea: Everything happened so quickly.Azaria: We got our tickets at 6:15 am. The flight was leaving at 6:30. They were actually holding up the plane for us. So I can't fault Polish Airlines. I can maybe fault the travel agent a little. But the responsibility to check the ticket is on our own shoulders.Hendekea: In the end, we should have been the ones to double-check before we left the ticketing agent to make sure it was right.

TVGuide.com: How many languages do you speak?Azaria: We're both pretty good at English.Hendekea: But it's funny people thought Azaria could speak French. They were like "We heard him speak French in Burkina Faso." But that was the only three French words we know.Azaria: And Hendekea actually makes fun of the way I talk to foreign people because I talk with an accent. Plus my hand movements and body gestures just got much more animated.Hendekea: I did it too, though. When you spend so much time outside of the U.S. you start talking with the same accent of the people you're hanging around. So I can't judge.

TVGuide.com: Well, how was that ill-fated flight?Hendekea: It was the most depressing time of my life. First of all, we had to wait in Vilnius for three or four hours. And then we had a layover in Frankfurt, and Azaria was moping around all depressed.Azaria: That was because of all the cigarette smoke around in that airport! [Laughs] It was terrible. [That, plus] we ended up landing four or five hours after the first team.

TVGuide.com: At least you made out pretty well before you were eliminated. You won three legs.Hendekea: Yeah, we did. We won a trip to Whistler in Alberta, Canada to go skiing. Then Bermuda… and scooters.

TVGuide.com: Which was your favorite leg?Azaria: The first leg of Burkina Faso where I had to drink the crunchy camel's milk while she was yelling at me. But Croatia would have been [our favorite]. Had we won.Hendekea: Winning's always great. But our goal was to stay in it as long as possible.

TVGuide.com: Did being Ethiopian ever give you an advantage? Were locals like, "She's not from here but she's a fellow African?"Hendekea: We told people that we were Ethiopian and they didn't care. The only advantage was the fact that we had been to Africa before. I think that, maybe, with some of the other teams like The Blondes or Kynt and Vyxsin, [the poverty] they saw surprised them and they got very emotional.

TVGuide.com: What did you think when Jennifer complained that you were winning too much.Hendekea: That was funny. But they didn't show part of it. We got there first and when they were second I put my hand on Jen's shoulder [as if to say], "We're still in the game. That's what counts." And she turned to me and snapped, "Don't touch me!" But Jen and I are good friends and I totally understood where she was coming from. She apologized afterwards and it was no big deal.

TVGuide.com: In general, how did you all handle finding food and timing potty breaks?Hendekea: I don't know why people complain about food, because I was never really hungry. We were on airplanes half the time and, maybe it wasn't fine dining, but it was food. With bathrooms, I just didn't drink so I wouldn't have to go much. I was probably dehydrated half the time.Azaria: You do learn to hold it in. But when it comes to food, I looked at it like this: The first leg of the race was so physically demanding I felt like if I could get through that then everything else was cake.

TVGuide.com: It was funny when you called Nick and Gramps out for trying to get the ticket agent to screw over the other teams. How often did you overhear things you shouldn't have?Azaria: A lot of times you're in close proximity to other people — especially in the ticketing office. That's partially why we ended up sharing a lot of info. We felt like they would get it anyway.

TVGuide.com: In your CBS bio you say you were setting out to make friends along the way. Which teams will you see again? And who would like to never see again?Hendekea: A lot of the teams live in southern California. So I see them all the time — Nate and Jen, TK and Rachel, Julia. I don't really have anyone that I super dislike except for maybe Kynt and Vyxsin.

TVGuide.com: Why are they not on your Favorite People list?Hendekea: For several reasons. I feel like they put up a bit of a show. I could care less if somebody's walking around with a pink afro and a tutu.

TVGuide.com: What seemed phony about them?Hendekea: I can't believe we're getting into this. [Laughs] But Kynt really catered to the camera. The second it was on… Kynt was dynamic and exciting. But when it came to interacting with other teams, they wanted nothing to do with any of us.

TVGuide.com: In this week's episode it just looked like their strategy was to not go along with the crowd.Azaria: That is the biggest joke ever. I don't want to bad-mouth them, but every single leg of the race they followed people.Hendekea: In Ireland and in Amsterdam they followed us. They would try to be your friend when it was advantageous to them. But then they would go and backstab you. If that's how you want to play, that's fine, but don't walk around with this high and mighty attitude like, "Oh, we have so much integrity. We would never lie. We're such respectful people."

TVGuide.com: OK. Changing the subject, what happens to your backpacks sometimes? During this last leg, especially, they disappeared.Azaria: The production guys picked up our backpacks at the airport because they knew that we'd be repelling and doing other things.

TVGuide.com: Is that how you'd be tipped off that a tough leg was coming?Azaria: No, because the toughest leg was the first one and we had our backpacks for that. In this last leg it was just about logistics. You're not going to be able to carry a backpack down a zipline or when you're dropping into the water.

TVGuide.com: See, some of us — meaning me — would have been worried about not being strong enough. And falling. And killing ourselves. Hendekea: I guess you could have fallen. But you can't think about it. You just do it. Like before we left for the race, I was thinking about how Joyce [of Season 7] shaved her head in India. I was like, "I would totally not cut my hair." But then when I got on the race I realized I would do many things I otherwise would never expect myself to do.

Were they even called to race in UB?? I think they had the biggest reason to come back to TARUB. I also understand that they might not be called if Christina was also racing. Is there any news about them? Thanks.

Here are the statistics on the placement of teams in seasons 12 through 17:6 9th place teams - Zev/Justin were in AR186 8th place teams - Amanda and Kris were in AR186 7th place teams - none were in AR186 6th place teams - Mel and Michael, Gary and Mallory were in AR186 5th place teams - Kynt and Vyxsin were in AR186 4th place teams - Keisha and Jennifer, Flight Time and Big Easy were in AR186 3rd place teams - Margie and Luke were in AR186 2nd place teams - Ronald and Christina, Jaime and Cara, Jet and Cord were in AR186 1st place teams - were in AR18

So only 4 teams with a 6th place (what Azaria and Hezekia finished in AR12) or worse placement appeared in AR18. I would not have put Azaria and Hezekia in instead of Zev/Justin, Amanda/Kris, Mel/Michael (that one is a tossup) or Gary/Mallory.